Review: Wizard's First Rule

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind is a hero’s quest in a game of good versus evil. Richard Cypher must save the world by keeping a magical box against the evil Darken Rahl. To help him with the quest is a wizard, Zedd, and a Confessor, Kahlan. Through a series of adventures and missteps, they work to put an end to Darken Rahl’s plans.

The characters in the story were fascinating and mostly realistic. My favorite character is Zedd the wizard. At times I had wondered if Zedd is based on someone Goodkind knows in real life, which could probably be said of most of the male characters in the story. The female characters seemed two-dimensional at times and could use a little more depth.

The story is written with special attention to detail. There were times when the details are so realistic that I could not read the scene and found myself skipping pages. For example, when Darken Rahl killed a boy in order to enter the Underworld, the details were incredibly graphic and was not at all enjoyable. I really did not need the scene played out in my head in order to understand that Rahl killed the boy in a ritual. Another excruciatingly graphic scene is when Richard is being tortured. The torture literally continues for several chapters. I thought I was going to have nightmares. Again, it was unnecessary to show me so much detail about the torture. This is one of those rare occasions when it’s okay to tell and not show. Nothing would have been taken away from the story if I was told the torture went on for so long without having to be there with the character while it was happening.

I would recommend this novel to any reader who enjoys fantasy and stories where the villains are truly evil and the heroes are exceptionally good with a warning about the intensity of the detail given during the story.

 

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